A new year full of changes at HARTE-BAVENDAMM
New Partners – New Perspectives
Cathérine and Janna are not only lawyers with excellent expertise, but have also contributed significantly to the success of our firm over many years with their dynamism and commitment.
Their admission to the partnership is a sign of the dynamic development and continued success of our firm. We are proud to have such talented lawyers on our team and look forward to continuing our successful collaboration.
At the same time, their appointment marks an important milestone for HARTE-BAVENDAMM: as of 1 January 2024, we will have more women than men in the partnership for the first time.
New Year – New Look
But that is not the only change the new year brings for HARTE-BAVENDAMM. We have launched a new, completely re-designed website. Needless to say, we remain true to our roots and our credo: “Firm Foundations – Inspired Solutions”.
Our new look continues to be characterised by the backdrop of the Elbphilharmonie –Hamburg's most beautiful landmark and a source of inspiration for us every day when we look out of our office window.
A Look Into the Future
We firmly believe that a flexible, specialised unit such as ours is best placed to meet the needs of our clients. We will continue to strive to provide the highest level of personalised and tailor-made legal solutions.
Thank you for your trust. We look forward to starting this exciting new year together with you.
Your team from HARTE-BAVENDAMM
You might also be interested in this
Brands are valuable assets that need to be maintained and modernized over time in order to remain relevant. However, modernizing a brand is a balancing act. On the one hand, the brand needs to be updated to reflect changing consumer preferences and market trends. On the other hand, it is important to maintain brand identity and recognition. Our blog post sheds light on the legal framework conditions based on European trademark law and analyses what options trademark owners have to adapt and further develop their trademarks without jeopardizing their property rights. We point out the pitfalls to watch out for when modernizing a brand and provide practical tips for successful brand maintenance.
German collecting society GEMA now seems to be going on the offensive against providers of generative AI systems. Following the presentation of a – in their opinion – fair licensing model for generative artificial intelligence at the end of September, an “AI Charter” as a suggestion and guideline for the responsible use of generative AI was presented at the beginning of November, and now a lawsuit has been filed against OpenAI at the Munich Regional Court.
In a landmark decision, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on 24 October 2024 that the Member States of the European Union are obliged to protect works of applied art, regardless of their country of origin or the nationality of their creators. “Works of applied art” are objects that serve a specific purpose but are also artistically designed. Examples include furniture such as chairs, shelves and lamps, but also – under strict conditions – fashion creations.
The use of cheat or modding software has always been controversial in the world of video games. While many gamers see it as a way to make games easier or more exciting, developers and publishers often see it as a threat to their rights and the integrity of their products. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) had to consider the copyright component of this issue in a dispute between Sony and the UK company Datel over the use of cheat software called “Action Replay”, which allowed users to alter the course of a game to gain unintended advantages. Read our article to find out how the case was decided and what the implications are for software development practice.